


Plague

by Tarlan



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Canonical Character Death, Episode s01e06 Poisoning the Well, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-09
Updated: 2012-08-09
Packaged: 2017-11-11 19:13:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/481916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Hoffan plague reaches Atlantis and the city is quarantined by the SGC, it is left to Rodney to make all the decisions, and to try to find a way to save as many as he can - including John.  (Character death is NOT John or Rodney)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Plague

**Author's Note:**

  * For [squidgie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/squidgie/gifts).



> Goes AU after 202 Intruder. With many, many thanks to **taibhrigh** and **siluria** for the beta duties! If you need to know which major character dies then please see the END NOTE.  
>  **Written especially for: squidgiepdx, who has graciously allowed me to share it :D**

In ten thousand years, civilizations within Pegasus had risen and fallen over and over. Some like Hoff and Sateda had kept on trying to rebuild their cities and retain some of their technology, but with each culling they fell further behind despite their hidden libraries of knowledge. According to Teyla, Sateda was lost altogether now, made an example of by the Wraith. Its great cities had been leveled, and its people culled into extinction as a warning to all who would dare resist. The last reports from Hoff several months ago had the Wraith on their way, determined to eradicate a virus that could turn every feeding into a game of Russian roulette. Perhaps if it had been contained on Hoff then the Wraith might have stood a chance but the Chancellor had sent survivors out into the galaxy. The original idea was to administer the Hoffan drug across the galaxy, but the drug had activated or mutated into a virus, which then spread to other worlds.

Standing in the center of the infirmary with his mask in place, Rodney looked into Carson's bleak eyes. His friend's sacred oath had been to do no harm and now he had the blood of thousands, perhaps millions of innocent people on his hands, with reports coming in every day of more and more people falling sick and dying of the Hoffan plague - perhaps in greater number than would have been culled by the Wraith.

It had been only a matter of time before the contagion was brought back to Atlantis by one of the gate teams, and though Rodney had tried to upgrade the quarantine protocols, it had not been enough to save them. It had spread through the city before anyone realized it, mimicking a common cold. 

Rodney looked at Carson sadly. "You need to take a break."

"No. No, I need to fix this."

"And you will," Rodney insisted before plunging ahead bluntly. "But not if you kill yourself from exhaustion first."

"How can you be so bloody insensitive! People are dying, Rodney! Our people!"

Rodney could not stop his eyes flickering around the crowded infirmary and seeing too many familiar faces, pale and drawn. He tried to shut out the hacking cough from a young doctor who had returned with them on the _Daedalus_ only a month before. His eyes were drawn to the bloody spittle bubbling at her blue-tinged lips as she struggled for each breath. She looked so small and fragile among the tubes and monitors. They all did - even the burliest marine. All he knew of her was that she had been selected by Carson during their brief time back on Earth to replace Doctor Cole. Yet all he could think was that she looked so much like a character in _Firefly_ , and that made him feel a little sick and guilty for not even knowing her real name.

He turned back to Carson, tempted to ask Carson if only to make himself look a little more human in Carson's eyes but Carson was swaying with exhaustion. "You're dead on your feet, Carson. A few hours-."

"In a few hours she'll be dead."

Carson sank into a seat beside the young doctor's bed, head buried in his hands, and Rodney reached over to place a hand on his shoulder, offering what little comfort he could. Most people called him insensitive and Rodney knew that nine times out of ten they would be right, but that was because mostly he felt no need to pull his verbal punches. He simply didn't care enough to babysit people through their mistakes or petty problems.

This thing with Carson was vastly different though, and he knew better than to give platitudes that everything would be alright and tell Carson that this wasn't his fault. The Hoffan could not have created the drug without Carson's expertise; instead they would have been doomed to another round of culling before they could rebuild and start again. With Carson's assistance the Hoffans had released a plague of biblical proportions across a whole galaxy, and fear of it spreading to the Milky Way had left the new Lanteans quarantined along with the rest of Pegasus. Until Carson found a cure they would be treated like a Leper Colony with supplies beamed down from the _Daedalus_ but no more transfers of personnel.

For once Rodney recognized that silence was the only comfort Carson could accept, so he remained standing beside his friend with his hand still resting heavily on Carson's bowed shoulder - and he waited, momentarily frozen in space and time. Eventually Carson took a deep, troubled breath and sighed raggedly. A hand reached up and covered Rodney's hand, squeezing gently.

"I'm sorry, my friend. I know you're right. I just-."

"Stasis." Rodney blinked at his own sudden thought, and he felt Carson's grip tighten as Carson looked back up at him in shock. "It would buy you time."

Hope filled Carson's eyes. "Aye."

Rodney strode away quickly, already yelling for Radek before he'd even reached the threshold of the infirmary.

***

John turned away and tried to cover the soft coughs behind his mask before anyone noticed. His head was throbbing in time with his racing heartbeat and the hand he passed across his forehead revealed a sheen of sweat from the low-grade fever that was slowly building. He knew he was sick like so many others in Atlantis, but he was determined to carry on for as long as he could.

Major Lorne waited patiently beside him and when John turned back he found a pitying, knowing look in the major's eyes. "You should report to the infirmary, sir."

"Later."

"Yes, sir."

He knew Carson and his team already had their hands full with those in worse shape than himself. He straightened as Rodney barreled round the corner with Zelenka hard on his heels.

"Sheppard!"

"Hey, Rodney. Nice mask. Brings out the color of your eyes," John replied sweetly, completely throwing Rodney off his stride. Damn it was too easy but he would never get tired of teasing him, just to see confusion fill his otherwise, sharply intelligent blue eyes.

"What?" Rodney raised a hand and then rolled his eyes, having finally remembered that he was wearing one of Carson's surgical masks that was blue instead of the usual white. "I had an idea!"

"About?"

"The sick people. We can put them in stasis until Carson can figure out the cure."

"Do we _have_ enough stasis units?" 

As far as John could recall, he'd seen only the laboratory where they'd found the ancient Elizabeth Weir - who had gone back in time to save Atlantis from sinking and the rest of them from drowning on their first day in the city. It had contained only a single stasis unit.

"That's the problem, but I think-."

"We," Zelenka stated.

Rodney gave him a glare but continued. " _We_ think we've located a section near the south pier with several hundred stasis units."

"But?" John asked and he saw Rodney's eyes shift nervously.

"But that section was severely damaged during the siege." His eyes took on an imploring look. "If the Hoffan virus retains a fifty percent casualty rate then we only need to salvage a hundred units at most. It will buy Carson more time."

John stared at him a moment longer, seeing the desperation warring with excitement in his eyes. Zelenka looked just as committed to the idea, wringing his hands nervously.

"What do you need?"

The tension drained out of Rodney. "Your men... to help shift debris so we can reach the units."

With a quarter of his men already sick, John and Lorne were already having difficulty with duty assignments, and this would thin them out considerably, but John looked to Lorne. "Do it."

"Yes, sir."

Zelenka turned and followed Lorne but Rodney lingered; a frown creased his brow. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine."

"'Cause you don't look fine. Do you have a headache? Rapid pulse? Finding it harder to draw a breath?"

Irritated, John went to snap back a retort but coughed instead.

"Oh god, you're sick."

"I'm fine!" He choked out between coughs, then reached out and patted Rodney's shoulder hesitantly as he tried to convey reassurance, but it was obvious from Rodney's expression that he had failed miserably.

"I'll call Carson."

"No!" He grabbed for Rodney's wrist as Rodney went to activate his radio. "No," he repeated softer. "Let him rest."

"But-."

"The only way you can help right now, Rodney, is to buy Carson time."

There was a long moment of hesitation before Rodney nodded. "Right. The stasis units."

Only then did John notice that he was still holding Rodney's wrist and with reluctance, he let go. "I'll go with you."

***

It took two hours to find a way into the section, and though Rodney cringed fearfully with every creak and groan of the structure around him, he pressed onwards. It wasn't just about nameless doctors who looked like Kaylee, or even about Carson anymore. This was about John, who seemed sicker with every passing hour. The dread coiling in Rodney's stomach grew with every labored breath as John refused to head back.

Eventually they reached the section and Rodney gave soft thanks to a god he didn't even believe in when they found room after room of stasis pods. The only chill they gave him was the fact that these were all horizontal, laid out in drawers like a morgue. It made sense though as each unit took up far less space.

"Not this chamber," Rodney murmured as he took in the damage. It was closer to the debris and damage caused by an impacting Wraith dart that had struck the base of the tower. They moved on slowly until they had left the debris-littered corridors behind. Rodney opened another door and sighed. The chamber looked intact and, at a guess, it held roughly two hundred stasis pods. He moved swiftly to the first bank and attached his laptop, watching as the information scrolled across his screen.

"Looks like we have what we need." 

Rodney didn't mention that it would take all of the resources of their ZPM to bring the pods online and power them, mainly because he knew John would argue that it would leave Atlantis defenseless should the Wraith return. But it wasn't John's call. They'd had a message an hour back that Elizabeth had collapsed, and with John sick too, that left Rodney in control of the city. It was his call and he could see no other way of keeping half of his people - and John - alive until Carson could fix this.

Beside him, Radek coughed and Rodney stared at him hard.

"Dust in my throat," he said, but Rodney could see a sheen of sweat and a glassiness in his eyes.

He didn't call him on it because he needed Radek here, helping him to prepare the stasis pods but he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.

"John!" Rodney rushed across the chamber when he saw John stagger, grabbing him and lowering him gently to the floor to lean up against the wall.

"Rodney.. I'm fine." John tried to push back up to his feet but Rodney held him down.

"No. No you're not." Feeling sick with fear for John, Rodney called over one of the marines. "Watch him. Sit on him if you have to."

John laughed weakly. "They don't take orders-."

Rodney straightened up to his full height. "As of this moment they do. Elizabeth is in the infirmary, and you belong there too, and as this is still a civilian outpost, that leaves me in charge of all personnel on Atlantis." Rodney turned to the marine and gave him his hardest stare. "You have your orders, corporal."

The corporal looked between him and John, but then saluted Rodney. "Yes, sir."

He had hated to pull rank on John, hated the bitter look John gave him but the very fact that John had not protested any further was a sign that he had made the right decision. He ordered in more engineers to clear debris and stabilize the tower.

"Radek. Let's get these stasis pods online."

The important task now was to get the stasis pods up and running.

Less than an hour later, Rodney smiled in relief as the first hundred pods in the chamber came online. According to Atlantis, everything was working within acceptable parameters but they still needed to run a test.

"If we bring up one of the sickest-."

"I'll do it."

Rodney turned. It had been impossible to forget John's presence, knowing John was watching his every move and wishing things could have been different between them. Part of him knew that this would be one way to make amends for relieving him from duty.

"John, if it doesn't-."

"It will work."

"John."

"Rodney. I trust you."

Giving a tight nod to John and then to the corporal, Rodney turned to the closest pod and pressed the control symbol to open it. The drawer slid out smoothly and Rodney felt his heart breaking as he watched John hand over his P90 and struggle with his TAC vest.

"Let me," he murmured, reaching forward hesitantly, half expecting John to slap his hands away but John dropped his own hands and nodded. Beneath the TAC vest, John was clad only in a black tee and Rodney was tempted to hand him his jacket, but John wouldn't need it in stasis. He looked up into John's fever-clouded eyes. "John, I-."

"I know. Me too."

John pulled away and walked unsteadily towards the pod, almost collapsing on it. Rodney picked up his feet and placed them into the unit, waiting as John linked his fingers over his chest. He covered John's hand with one of his own, squeezing gently before reaching up to pull away the surgical mask that John had kept on.

Stepping back, Rodney pressed another set of commands and the drawer slid back inside and engaged. The readings stabilized and Rodney bowed his head in misery, allowing himself a moment before taking a deep breath and straightening. He stabbed at his radio.

"Start transporting the sick to stasis."

Two hours later, Rodney sank to the floor in the place where John had been, staring up at the filled bank of stasis pods, seeing the steady blue lights that told him all were functioning correctly. One hundred and three so far, with at least four others being prepped. He had placed Elizabeth in the pod next to John, and Radek next to her.

Carson sank down next to him. "I wonder if you dream in stasis?"

"Brain activity slows down but doesn't stop altogether, so maybe they do." He turned to Carson. "How many did we lose?"

"Sixteen, including Doctor Keller." Rodney frowned as he tried to recall a Doctor Keller, and Carson smiled sadly when he realized Rodney had no clue. "You kept calling her Kaylee. Her name was Jennifer."

He remembered her now and felt the weight of loss bearing down on him. Perhaps if he and Radek had worked harder, or faster. Maybe she would have made it. "I'm so sorry, Carson."

"I know you are, lad. I know you are."

***

**Two Months Later:**

The Wraith had remained quiet and rumors from other worlds said they had gone back into hibernation while Wraith scientists worked on a cure to the Hoffan plague that not only prevented them from feeding, but also killed them in the process. However, Rodney would not allow anyone on Atlantis to become complacent. If the Wraith learned that Atlantis was still there then they could come back in even greater numbers, desperate to find safer feeding grounds now their current one had become poisonous to them. Rodney couldn't take that risk.

He'd been forced to put aside his research for the most part, too busy trying to keep Atlantis afloat when the number of personnel had dropped almost to a critical level. Off-world missions had been reduced to essential food supply runs only from known trading partners, and even then, he allowed only one team off Atlantis at a time. Only forty-three military and sixty-seven scientists had not succumbed to the Hoffan plague, with the rest held in stasis near the south pier, waiting on Carson and the few remaining on his medical team to find a cure. The last person to fall sick had happened over a month ago.

Concerned that the survivors might be carriers of the plague, contact with Earth had been reduced to weekly communication bursts only, with the iris closed on the SGC Stargate to deter anyone from trying to get to Earth. Rodney sighed as the Stargate closed after the weekly check-in with Earth. Once more he'd had to report no progress on a cure. He had spent most of his morning going through reports and desperate to get away, he walked down to the mess hall to grab a sandwich, taking a break from the administration that had dragged him down since this nightmare began. 

With over half of their number in stasis, including Elizabeth and John, everyone was looking to him for reassurance and answers, and for once he needed to get away from them all. With the transporter close to the south pier tower operational once more, it took only a few minutes to reach the stasis chamber.

"Hallwell. How are our sleeping beauties?"

"Still blue across the board."

"Take a thirty minute break. I'll watch over them."

Hallwell nodded and walked away quickly, not needing to be asked twice as this was currently one of the worst assignments in the city, rotated through only a few people that Rodney trusted. Once Hallwell left, the silence in the room descended like a heavy weight over him, and Rodney understood all too well why it was considered a bad assignment. The chamber was creepy, like sitting in a morgue or cemetery, except the people inside those _graves_ were still very much alive.

He moved over to one pod in particular and sank down to the ground beside the hatch, reaching up to splay his hand across the cool metal. Inside, John was sleeping away the months, and Rodney missed him.

"I should have told you how I feel about you while I had the chance." He placed his sandwich onto the ground untouched, having lost his appetite. "I mean, what's the worst you could have done?" He huffed a laugh. "Punch me? Unlikely. Politely turned me down? Probably." He sighed. "I know you wouldn't have thought any less of me for wanting you. Know you're not homophobic... because I saw how you were with Stackhouse after Markham was killed." He drew in a deeper breath and let it out slowly. "I miss you. It's not the same here without you."

Ford had disappeared during the siege after becoming addicted to the Wraith feeding enzyme. Teyla had been with her people on the mainland when the Hoffan plague reached Atlantis, and Rodney had refused to allow her to come back just in case she became infected. Plus he didn't want to risk the infection spreading to the Athosians who were already so few in number from too many cullings. With John, Elizabeth and Radek in stasis, that left him feeling very much alone as Carson rarely stepped out of his laboratory except to give Rodney the weekly update on his team's progress.

Major Lorne had proved reliable, taking command of the military but still reporting to Rodney, while shy Miko Kusanagi had stepped up to head the science department in Rodney's absence, building a surprising amount of self-confidence in such a short time. It always amazed him though, how people reacted to situations. Some fell apart while, for others, it was character-building.

He said as much to John.

"You didn't really have much of a chance to get to know Major Lorne but I think you'll like him."

Approaching footsteps caught his attention and Rodney pushed back to his feet just as Hallwell entered the chamber. He gave a soft smile as Hallwell's first action was to visually check all the occupied pods to ensure all were blue lights, and nodded his approval before turning to leave.

"Doctor McKay?"

Rodney turned.

"I was wondering if Doctor Beckett had made any more progress."

Rodney look away, shaking his head. He left without saying another word, but he found himself returning often, just to talk to John.

***

**Another Five Months Later:**

Carson raced into Rodney's office - formerly Elizabeth's - with his face flushed, eyes sparkling and mouth curved into a smile for the first time in months. "Rodney!"

Rodney pushed to his feet, hope sending his heart beating faster. "Carson?"

"We did it. We have the cure."

Rodney sat back down when his knees threatened to buckle beneath him, and he waited as Carson dropped into the seat opposite, still smiling brightly.

"It doesn't prevent the Hoffan drug from making us poisonous to the Wraith, but it should lessen the deadly side effects to a bad cold at worst," Carson stated excitedly.

"Is it preventative or-."

"Both. We can administer it to anyone showing signs of respiratory collapse following exposure to the Hoffan virus." Carson's smile widened. "We can start waking up our people."

John - was Rodney's first thought, and he felt his heart ache with the need to see and hear and touch John again. The temptation to rush out of here straight to the stasis chamber was strong but Rodney had learned patience over these seven months in charge of Atlantis.

"It's late. Let's all try to get a good night's sleep before we start waking them up. We have time, Carson, to take it slow."

Carson looked disappointed for a moment but then his forehead crinkled into a frown. "Aye, you're right. There's a lot of sick people and so few of us. I need to draw up the proper procedures and determine who to wake first. Start with those who were only just succumbing to the virus and leave the worst affected until we have more medical staff back on their feet."

"Let's schedule a meeting of all department heads and military tomorrow to discuss how we proceed. O-nine hundred hours?" Rodney suggested.

"I'll be ready."

Despite his insistence on them delaying until the morning, Rodney barely slept that night. When he did his dreams were filled with memories of John mingled with fantasies that brought him awake hard and needy. Giving up on sleep, he ran a bath and sank into the heated depths, letting the hot water ease some of the tension from his body. He leaned back and closed his eyes as he mentally commanded the jets to massage his tired body. Unlike a normal bath, this one retained the temperature at exactly what he wanted and needed, and he found himself smiling as he replayed a favorite fantasy of sharing the hot tub with John. Unable to resist the temptation, he wrapped a hand around his hard cock and jacked himself slowly, enjoying the sensation of hand, heat, and water as thoughts of John aroused him. He stopped when he came close to coming, not wanting to mess his bath water. Instead he climbed out of the bath and sat on the edge, knees wide apart. This time when he took himself in hand, he didn't stop, letting the pleasure coil from deep in his belly and the warmth spread outwards, sharp and clean as he came hard with a memory of John's cocky smile, catching his release in a washcloth. He threw the washcloth into the sink to deal with later and slid back into the bath, letting the heat and water caress his sensitive skin and sated body.

Half an hour later, with limbs still loose and mind less troubled, Rodney knew he might be able to sleep again so he climbed out of the bath, dried off and padded to his lonely bed. The bed warmed quickly with his body heat, and he fell asleep quickly, waking hours later with the first beep of his alarm.

When he reached the conference room, everyone else was already assembled. The whole room was filled with a mix of tension and excitement. Everyone here had someone they knew, cared for, or loved lying asleep in the stasis units. With a quick preamble to fill everyone in on the situation, Rodney turned the floor over to Carson.

"Rodney rightfully pointed out that we cannot awaken them all at once. We simply don't have the staff or resources. These people were sick when they entered stasis. They will still be sick when they awaken, and some will need more care than can be provided initially. I propose to awaken first only those who were just showing signs of the sickness before going into stasis. We awaken them in batches of five initially. Once they are back on their feet and able to look after themselves, we can move to the next group."

Carson looked around for dissent but Rodney knew this was common sense.

Lorne asked the most important question. "When do we start?"

Carson looked to Rodney for the answer. "We start in one hour."

The hard part was deciding which five to wake up first. Both Elizabeth and John had hidden how badly they were affected until they collapsed so Rodney could not justify them being in the first five. He decided to leave that call up to Carson, who had all the medical information at his fingertips.

"The first five ought to be Major Teldy, Nurse Shu Ling, and Doctors Zelenka, Parrish and Esposito."

"Okay people, let's get started."

****

John's name made it to the top of the list during the second week and Rodney made sure he was present to man the controls once Carson indicated that he was ready. By now they had awoken thirty-five of the one hundred and nine who had fallen sick and, so far, there had been no side effects other than a general weakness that had lasted a few days - like recovering from a bout of flu.

He watched as the drawer slid out, seeing John for the first time in over seven months. In sleep John looked so vulnerable and if not for the paleness of his features Rodney might have believed he was just sleeping rather than sick. Within seconds a sheen of sweat appeared across John's fever-flushed face as the sickness reanimated inside his body.

John moaned softly, his head turning and dark lashes flickering until his eyes opened.

"Rodney?"

Without a second thought, Rodney reached for John's hand, threading the fingers through his own. "We found a cure."

John smiled but the moment was spoiled as John dragged in a breath and began to cough. Feeling Carson's hand on his shoulder, Rodney moved aside to let Carson attach the nebulizer that would administer the cure in the form of a mist for John to inhale directly into his lungs, but he did not let go of John's hand. Instead he squeezed the fingers gently in reassurance as John breathed in the fine medication. A few minutes passed where John's eyes never left Rodney's, trusting in him; the gaze was broken only when the corpsman tapped Rodney on the shoulder.

"Sir? We need to move him now."

Reluctantly Rodney let go of John's hand and stepped back to allow the medics room to place John onto a gurney ready to be transported to the infirmary. With even greater reluctance, Rodney had to watch him leave without following on behind, as Carson had asked him to start the resuscitation process on Elizabeth.

Just under an hour later, he trailed along behind the medics as they transported the last patient from this current batch out the chamber, heading back to the infirmary in the main tower of Atlantis. As the current leader, Rodney knew he had administrative duties to perform but for once he pushed it all aside. He needed to see John again just to verify with his own eyes that John was back, and recovering.

The infirmary was the usual scene of quiet efficiency and Rodney nodded at Nurse Ling, pleased to see she had already returned to the duty roster as that meant John might recover quickly too. He stopped for a second to smile at Elizabeth before walking onwards to the last bed in the row. John was propped up against the pillows as it made breathing easier; the nebulizer had been replaced with a nasal cannula delivering oxygen.

"Hey," John whispered hoarsely, and Rodney raised his hand in a tiny wave to greet him.

"May I?" 

Rodney indicated towards the seat, gaining a raised eyebrow in return before John nodded. It only then occurred to Rodney that seven months ago he would have simply taken the seat without asking if his company was accepted, but these months had forced everyone to change a little. Taking over Elizabeth's role had meant learning to be more like her rather than browbeating the others into following his orders. At first it had seemed so difficult, having to bite his tongue to avoid calling some displaced botanist an idiot for not knowing how to operate the Ancients' equivalent of an oven... or cook even. They'd all had to go beyond their specialism and even take on the more menial tasks after their numbers had been halved with no means of gaining replacements.

Everyone had learned new skills to fill in the gaps left behind by those in stasis. Botanists became cooks and a renowned astrophysicist had finally learned some of the art of diplomacy and administration. Strangely, he actually felt more confident these days, leaving many of his insecurities concerning people behind him.

"You're... different," John stated softly.

"It's been a hard few months. Seven to be precise."

"So long?"

"I... missed you." Rodney looked away, aware of the naked vulnerability on his own face and afraid that John would see seven long months of need and desire clearly written across his face.

"Why do I never see this coming," he murmured under his breath, the words barely audible, but then John spoke just a little louder. "Rodney?" His voice was soft but the fingers gripping his wrist were hard and unyielding. Rodney looked back and saw something in John's eyes that gave him hope. "Once I'm out of here, we need to talk."

"Really? Because neither of us is that good at talking."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, Rodney." His voice was teasing, eyes glinting with pleasure, reminding Rodney of all the times when John had ordered him to shut up while on away missions.

"Oh ha ha!" It had broken the tension between them though, taking a weight off Rodney's chest and making it easier to breathe again. "I've got to go now," he said as he hooked a thumb over his shoulder towards the door. "But I'll be back later."

"Any chance you can make that sooner than later," John wheedled. "Bring me something to do before I start crawling up the walls with boredom?"

Rodney gave him a half-cryptic smile and walked away.

"Hey, Rodney? Was that a yes?"

He took several more steps as John called his name once more, this time with a tone that made Rodney's heart skip a beat. He glanced over his shoulder and the look on John's face banished every doubt he ever had about the nature of this 'talk', and its outcome. He could already see himself in John's arms, wrapped around a man who had become his whole existence and reason for being, and he could see a reflection of that same desire for him in John's eyes.

With a lighter heart and step, he made his way back to his office, wanting to tie up any loose ends before he handed the reins of command back to Elizabeth. And for the first time since the whole ordeal began, he felt truly happy.

END

**Author's Note:**

> Death of Major Character: Dr. Jennifer Keller, in a 'canon' way.


End file.
